Bud Powell, Alice Coltrane, Kenny Clarke & More Live in Paris

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Pearl Bailey, I Can't Rock And Roll
Dizzy Gillespie, Woodin' you
George Gershwin, Get Happy
George Gershwin / David Rose, Strike Up The Band
Ray Henderson / B.G. DeSylva / Lew Brown, Birth Of The Blues
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin, How Long Has This Been Going On?
Clarisse Blues
Bud Powell, John's Abbey
Jimmy Davis / Jimmy Sherman / Roger "Ram" Ramirez, Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II, Don't Ever Leave
Bud Powell, Anthropology

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Bud Powell, Alice Coltrane, Kenny Clarke & More Live in Paris The Blue Note Paris 1960

About

This marvellous 1960 film, recorded by Jean-Christophe Averty (a prolific custodian of mid-20th Century jazz) at the ORTF Studios in Paris, documents the sheer musicianship and skill of several famous names. The performance is kicked-off by Alice McLeod, three years before she met her husband, the great John Coltrane, and she delivers dazzling piano work on "Woody'n You," a piece penned by Dizzy Gillespie. Bud Powell takes over later on, supported by legendary drummer Kenny Clarke, in one of several sessions he recorded under the auspices of Blue Note, Paris, demonstrating just how effortlessly he was able to unspool beguiling melodies of utmost complexity.

Later, the saxophonist Lucky Thompson injects a dose of swing into proceedings and the group shifts formation at several moments, offering the opportunity to see interplay, and perhaps some on-the-spot improvisation, between unlikely pairings. Noteworthy mentions also go to the singer Billie Poole, who wields a powerful, nuanced tone of voice and the guitarist Jimmy Gourley, who is the epitome of "cool" on the guitar.

Cast

Lucille "Billie" Poole | Singer
Jimmy Gourley | Electric guitar

Alice Coltrane (née McLeod) | Pianist
Al King | Bass guitarist
Don Brown | Drummer

The Three Bosses
Bud Powell | Pianist
Pierre Michelot | Bass guitarist
Kenny Clarke | Drummer

Lucky Thomson | Tenor/saxophonist

Henri Renaud | Pianist
Jean-Marie Ingrand | Bass guitarist
Daniel Humair | Drummer

Program

Pearl Bailey, I Can't Rock And Roll
Dizzy Gillespie, Woodin' you
George Gershwin, Get Happy
George Gershwin / David Rose, Strike Up The Band
Ray Henderson / B.G. DeSylva / Lew Brown, Birth Of The Blues
George Gershwin / Ira Gershwin, How Long Has This Been Going On?
Clarisse Blues
Bud Powell, John's Abbey
Jimmy Davis / Jimmy Sherman / Roger "Ram" Ramirez, Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
Jerome Kern / Oscar Hammerstein II, Don't Ever Leave
Bud Powell, Anthropology